by Robert Olson Turkey hopes to use the 2.7 million Syrian refugees now in Turkey as vehicles to develop and consolidate it geopolitical and geo-economic position. This is a vastly different policy from the one Ankara pursued toward Kurdish refugees… Continue Reading
by Wayne White Regardless of its terrorist spectacles abroad, from Beirut to Paris, the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) continues to lose territory in its Syrian-Iraqi base. Large dollops of US ground forces in roles closer to the fighting are… Continue Reading
by Robert Olson Several times during the last week of April, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)— and its political arm, the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK)—had been defeated and that the state was winning.… Continue Reading
by Robert Olson Turkey is in a strong position to achieve its geopolitical objectives in the both Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, for instance, Turkey’s objective after the U.S. invasion in 2003 was to ensure that the Kurdistan Region Government… Continue Reading
by Robert Olson The title of Mahmut Bozarslan’s recent article in Al- Monitor, is “How Turkey Seeks to Kill Two Birds with One Stone in Diyarbakir.” It describes the policies Turkey is pursuing in southeast Turkey to pacify the populace… Continue Reading